The Star Princess cruise ship is drydocked at BAE shipyard on Pier 70 in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. The new drydock is capable of handling ships that are too wide to pass through the Panama Canal, such as the Star Princess.

At least one piece of the San Francisco economy seems to be thriving: ship repair.

The city's dry dock at Pier 70, just south of Mission Bay, has had an uptick in business over the past few months as three Carnival Cruise liners that run tours to Mexico have sailed in to get patched up.

And they pay a pretty price to do so. According to the port's maritime marketing manager, Gerry Roybal, the repairs typically last about 14 days and employ about 600 workers to the tune of $3.5 million. The purchase of materials, such as paint, mattresses and furniture, can push the cost of a job up to $15 million, Roybal said.

The only problem is that a lot of the labor isn't local. About 210 employees are at the dock year-round to handle work on barges, tugs and other vessels, Roybal said. But 400 extra laborers are called in for cruise ship repair.

Up to 70 percent of the additional workers come in from other cities, Roybal said, with some traveling from as far away as Europe. Finding trained ship repair employees in San Francisco isn't easy, Roybal said. But that may change.

BAE systems, the company that runs the dry dock, recently started working with the city-sponsored City Build program that strives to train residents in the construction trades. Several locals worked on a cruise ship that docked in March and others are being trained, Roybal said.

Quotes of the week

"I'm a crock-pot kind of guy. It's one of the great all-time wedding presents."